Lauren Daigle on her journey to discovering passion, soul in latest 'season' of her career

Lafayette, Louisiana-born performer Lauren Daigle's self-titled fourth mainstream album is her brightest and most beat-driven to date. Yet still it's also yearningly sanctified and soulful.

The 11-time Gospel Music Association Dove Award and two-time Grammy winner's latest arrived in full on Sept. 8, featuring the production work of Dr. Dre protege Mike Elizondo, collaborations with Jon Batiste, Gary Clark, Jr.. plus the songwriting skills of Natalie Hemby, Shane McAnally, and Lori McKenna.

Her fourth No. 1 single, 2018's "You Say," sold 6 million album-equivalent copies in America. She was a chart-topper on Billboard's Adult Contemporary, Christian radio airplay and Christian sales charts for two and one-half years.

Achieving such a unique pinnacle did not occur without consequences.

"Success damaged my brain," Daigle told The Tennessean while taking a breather at North Nashville's Steel Mill Rehearsal Space during preparation for nearly three dozen performances nationwide to close 2023.

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Daigle described frequent panic attacks caused by hearing and seeing reports of her unprecedented success.

"My world was so rocked by [success] that being my most authentic self would be difficult -- and not serve my best self or the desires of my fans or my team -- if I tried to consider what I could create to eclipse ["You Say"]."

Instead, Daigle allowed her inquisitive passion for music and songwriting as ministries to intercede.

Luckily for her, for the past 20 years, Elizondo has been dipping around, into and near Christian and country music.

His own path has been a journey through genres. Elizondo was 60s-era country, pop and soul and 70s jazz fan who became a go-to, soulful 90s session musician. He later become a key production figure in alternative and rap music's early 2000s pop crossover and the eventual streaming-era broadening of popular music's sonic standards.

His catalog of production credits diversely includes both 50 Cent's "In Da Club" and Eminem's "The Real Slim Shady" as well as Fiona Apple's 2005 album "Extraordinary Machine" and "Rilo Kiley's "Under The Blacklight" in 2007. He also has acclaimed credits with Ed Sheeran, Gwen Stefani, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, and Lin-Manuel Miranda on the soundtracks for "Encanto" and "Hamilton."

"[Elizondo] allowed me to finally feel like I was putting my entire heart and spirit into my music," says Daigle.

Instead of stereotypical overnight marathon recordings, the album was recorded in five-hour mid-day sessions.

Released in two parts, the album's first series of tracks arrived on May 12, 2023.

Of them, songs like the pop-aimed "Thank God I Do," plus Jon Batiste and Natalie Hemby's collaboration "Saint Ferdinand" and breezy, almost neo-soul track "Kaleidoscope Jesus" are standouts. Of Sept. 8's addition, "Salvation Mountain" features bluesy rocker Gary Clark, Jr.

Traditionally, Christian and gospel music's influence on pop, rock, and soul has adulterated the balance between secular and spiritual inspirations. Unique to Daigle's work is a desire to supersede both those nuances with what she refers to as her desire to "deeply" connect souls and spirits feeling her music with her organic, "muddy water and Cajun swamp"-borne southern Louisiana roots.

Artists with virtuoso-level soulful depth aid the album by "sculpting the sounds and voices [Daigle] hears in [her] head." They achieved their work with such note-perfect skill that on tracks like album closer "You're All I'll Take With Me," Daigle is still unable to differentiate between her raw, unfiltered take and the one that appears on the album.

"I want people to hear this album and synergize with the rhythms so much that it interacts with their hearts," she said. "This is naturally emotional work that uniquely exposes people's vulnerability."

In the live realm, Daigle's particularly excited to perform her music catalog because showcasing the weight and power of being saved by a kaleidoscopic version of Jesus Christ -- "an awe-inspiring figure that connects fragmented, beautiful people as pieces" -- has more than ever, become her life's most important mission.

Adding comfort to the impact of Daigle's live performances is KultureCity, a nationally respected organization that has created over 1,900 spaces worldwide sensitive to those with autism and other sensory needs.

Her forthcoming run of concerts will come complete with quiet, secure environments outfitted with bean bags, activity and visual light panels, bubble walls and tactile artwork.

"Lauren and her team are going the extra mile to ensure that everyone, no matter their ability, is included at a concert," said KultureCity's executive director, Uma Srivastava.

The dramatic, startling change of course that Daigle's career has taken has led her to approach the self-described "gift" of her career's latest season with childlike awe and inspiration.

"The purity that came from rediscovering how I felt when I was first connected to the heart of God and learning how to value how I related to people from all walks of life has led me to feel [creatively] free," she said.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Lauren Daigle on her journey to discovering passion, soul in latest 'season' of her career